


Finding Home

by AnxiouslyNerdy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2019-10-26 15:15:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiouslyNerdy/pseuds/AnxiouslyNerdy
Summary: He had to get out of town. He couldn’t let Kuro find him. He gathered as much clothing as he could in his backpack. Stuffed a blanket and toiletries in the best he could. Going into the walk-in closet, Keith reached up shifting clothing and boxes on the top shelf around. “Aha!” he cheers when he touches an envelope. He pulls it down and pulls out the little money he had. Slowly he had collected small change and dollar bills, sometimes fives or tens if he was lucky, that Kuro left in his laundry. He shoves the envelope in his front pants pocked for safe keeping and shouldered his backpack.





	1. Chapter 1

The elevator seemed to descend at a slower rate than normal. Lance loosened his tie, stomach grumbling, hunger over taking him. He knew he shouldn’t have skipped breakfast, but he stayed up late working on a pro-bono case for an abused Omega. The poor teen was forced into a mating bond. Her own father selling her to pay off a debt. He remembers the day the shaking Omega was begging the receptionist to speak with him, apparently she did her research and knew Lance was the top lawyer in Omega rights. He had been on his way out of the office for the night, but couldn’t just walk away. He invited the girl into his office, and decided to take her case for free. He only ever did that for people he knew needed the help but did not have the means to pay him. He tended to have a soft spot for distressed Omega’s. Remembering all too well the way his sister Veronica was treated by her first potential mate.

The elevator finally reaches the lobby, and Lance sighs, happy to get out of the cramped space and head to the Diner across the street. The Balmaera is a classy little diner. It’s run by mates, Hunk and Shay, both Beta’s. It’s nothing fancy, but the food is great, and it’s a calm, relaxing atmosphere. He sat at his usual booth, and ordered the special. He was halfway through his grilled chicken salad, when the bell on the door dinged. Immediately his nose was filled with the strongest sent of distressed omega he has ever smelt. He lets out a breath and rubs his fingers under his nose trying to get the scent to lessen. Yet, he can’t ignore it. He can pick out through the sour smell, that it is pure omega, unmated, no Alpha scent what-so-ever. When the Omaga shuffles towards the counter, Lance looks over at him. He’s a bit shorter than Lance. His skin is pale, but in a beautiful way, almost flawless. With hair as dark as the night, slightly disheveled, and curling at the ends, in almost a mullet type fashion. Lance couldn’t help but stare at the back of the Omega’s head.

When hunk approached the distressed man, his scent became even stronger as he explains. “I-I’ve been traveling a-awhile. I was, uh, hoping I could…maybe get a glass of…” He pulls out an envelope from his pocked, opens it and with a shaky hand pulls out a couple crumpled dollar bills. “Um…w-what can I get f-for this?” He puts the dollars on the counter, and dumps a little change onto it as well.

Hunk counts the money and gives the young man a sad smile, “You can get a soda or coffee.”

“Okay. How much for a-a smoothy or shake?” The tan man asks, head tilted down.

“It’s three seventy-five before tax for a small one of either of those.”

The Omega runs his hand through his hair and sighs, “I-I’ll take a small coffee please. With um, two cream and…and three sugar.” His arms wrap around his mid-section and he calls after Hunk, “Decaf…please.”

Hunk nods and asks, “For here or to-go?”

“Um…here I suppose.”

“Then take a seat, I’ll bring it out to you in a moment.”

The man slowly turns in Lance’s direction, and stunning violet eyes searched the small diner for a place to sit. If Lance believed in love at first sight, he would have to say this was it. He was drawn into those eyes, unable to look away. He was the most beautiful Omega he had ever seen. His heart clenched at the fear in those eyes. At the ragged, worn down way the Omega walked, and the clearly dirty clothes and backpack he was carrying.  

When the man started to move, Lance quickly looked down and started stabbing at his salad. He didn’t want to be caught as a complete creep. Yet when the omega got closer, he couldn’t help but glance up. Those perfect eyes met his, and the man wrapped his arms around his waist again, quickly looking to the floor. Lance frowned, wondering if he really came off that intimidating, but when the pale man walked by, he caught a scent that helped him understand.

The Omega is pregnant.

 

****

The next few days, Lance kept seeing that Omega at the diner at lunch time. Each day the man would pull out a worn down envelope and scattered whatever money he had onto the counter. Today, he was able to get a smoothy like he always asked about. When he turned to go sit as Hunk prepared it, a dusting of a smile crossed his face. Lance couldn’t help but stare at how blinding even just a little twitch of the man’s lips was. He must have been staring too long because the Omega glared at him before wrapping his arms around himself protectively and sitting a few booths behind Lance.

When Lance finished the special of the day, which was a basic cheese burger and fries, he got up and went to the counter to pay. Shay was all smiles as she asked how his meal was. Lance ignored the question to ask his own. “Do you or Hunk know that Omega’s story at all? He’s new around here, or at least at the diner.”

Shay sighs, “No, not really. We’ve been trying to get him to talk to us, but he won’t. We’re both assuming he’s either homeless, or on the brink of it. Considering he never has much money on him. The poor boy seems so frightened, constantly looking over his shoulder.”

Lance sighs and pays double for his meal, plus a generous tip. “Could you send out the special for him. Just tell him it’s taken care of, but don’t mention by me. I think he’s a little weary of Alpha’s.”

“Of course. That’s very generous of you.” Shay says, taking his money and sending the order back to the kitchen.

Lance thanks her, and heads out the door, not daring to take another glance at the Omega today.

When he gets back to his office, Romelle gets up with a stack of paper work from him, and follows him in. “Here are some new cases. I haven’t sent out an email agreeing to any of them yet. I figured you would like to take care of that yourself when you decide which one’s you have time for or would like to work on, and which one’s you’ll send referrals to other lawyers for.”

“Thanks Romelle.”

She nods but hesitates before leaving his office. “Um Sir, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah of course,” Lance answers sitting behind his desk, laying out the paper work.”

“Um, I don’t mean to pry, but…have you gotten an Omega?”

Lance’s head snaps up and he raises a brow, “No…why would you think that?”

The other Alpha bounces on the balls of her feet, clearly nervous. “Well, um…you smell different? Like…concerned and uh…protective.”

Lance chuckles, “I’m always concerned and protective. My clients are mostly victims of Omega abuse. I worry for all of them. I want to help protect them.”

Romelle nods quickly, “Of course Sir. My senses must be a bit off today.”

“No worries Romelle.” The girl turns to leave and Lance mentions, “Hold all calls for me until I say otherwise. I’d like to focus on these requests without interruption.”

“Will do!” She says, making her way out of Lance’s office.

He’s always had to be careful about which cases he takes. Some are quite juvenile that can be solved in civil court, but then there are the ones that need immediate attention. So he starts by reading through each request, stacking piles into, referral, possible, and taking. After a couple of hours Romelle interrupts him. She knocks before coming into his office and he frowns at her. She knows how important possible new cases are to him.

She clears her throat, “S-sorry to bother you, but there is a pretty upset Omega demanding to see you.”

“Oh, uh send them in I guess.”

She opens the door all the way and Lance is shocked to see the Omega from the diner. He storms in past Romelle and plants his hands on the front of Lance’s desk, leaning over to snarl at him. “I don’t know who you think you are, or if you think you can somehow bribe me, or-or if Kuro sent you, but leave me alone! I see you staring, I _know_ you bought the food for me today, because I’m not stupid!” He leans even closer, a growl building in his throat. “I can take care of my damn self, and don’t need some snooty ass Alpha getting in my business.” He stands up straight, turns on his heels, and before he slams Lance’s door, he swears, “I’ll pay you back.” Then is gone. Only for a second until the door swings open, his head pops in and he whispers, “Thank you though.” Then slams the door again.

Lance stares blankly at the door.

_What the hell just happened?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some Keith backstory!

Keith groaned as the sound of the morning city rush woke him. He tried his best to save the little money he had, but long-distance bus tickets aren’t cheap. He was able to get farther than he expected, but still doesn’t feel safe from Kuro. He sits up, letting his dirty blanket fall to his waste. Picking up his backpack, that he was using as a pillow, he rolls up his blanket and stuffs in back in. Slowly he pulls his envelope from his pocket and counts his money. He groans, “Two fucking dollars.” He feels on the edge of tears, trying to convince himself its just hormones.

Some days he got lucky and people would look at him pitifully and hand him some money. It never lasted long and was never enough. Normally it was Omega parents. They could smell his pheromones, could smell he was just barely with child, but had the empathy from their own experiences to help him out. He’s tried to find a job, but no one wants to hire a homeless, pregnant Omega. It’s hard enough finding a place that will hire an Omega at all. They’re too unreliable, at least that’s what he’s been told. Needing to take a week off a month for heats, wasn’t very convenient for anyone.

He runs his fingers through his hair trying to make it look somewhat less tangled, stands, and shoulders his backpack. His back creaks and cracks as he stretches, the concrete ground feeling as hard as ever. Most of the day he just wonders around the town, getting to know it. He doesn’t go far though, because the alley he sleeps in is the first one he found unoccupied by other homeless strangers.

Soon, he walks past The Balmaera. He liked going in there. The atmosphere was calming, and the owners and their workers were always kind to him, never judged him for being dirty and clearly homeless. Then that stupid tan skinned Alpha decided to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Keith can take care of himself. He can survive on his own. Besides, the last thing he’s going to do is trust another lousy Alpha. The one and only time he did…well, it didn’t turn out how it was supposed to. It started all sweet and lovey. Keith has never been a very mushy Omega, but he would lie if he said he didn’t enjoy the pampering and kind words. Things changed quickly after he moved in with Kuro. He wasn’t allowed to call anyone, wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without him. Then Kuro’s anger roared its ugly head. Keith could just glance at him wrong and be thrown to the ground, or into a wall. On bad days he was lucky none of his bones shattered. Then came the guilt. Especially when Keith really didn’t want the jerk touching him in any kinda way. Kuro would always say, “Baby I love you. I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it.” It was always the same. He would coax Keith into cuddling, which morphed into kissing, which lead to self-loathing sex. Sure, Keith consented, because for a long time he still loved Kuro, still hoped the Alpha would snap out of whatever had him in this controlling, abusive mood. Then he found out he was pregnant. He could have sworn they were protected, he had the damn shot just two weeks prior. He preferred the shot rather than the pill, because then he wouldn’t forget to take it.

When he took the test though, it was clearly positive. That’s when he realized, he had gone to a different doctor, saw one that Kuro would rather he see…the bastard tricked him, gave him a bogus injection. Made sure Keith would get pregnant. That was the last straw. He had been saving money here and there, incase he ever got the nerve to leave. He’s glad he did, because as soon as the test said positive, he was rushing to pack and get out of there before Kuro got home, before his pheromones gave him away. He wasn’t ready to be a parent, was scared as hell, but knew he didn’t want that innocent life to grow up in that environment. He doesn’t care if he’s twenty-eight, getting toward the end of his peek for child-bearing. He just wasn’t ready. He didn’t know if he’d ever be. He thought Kuro understood that. Apparently, he didn’t.

He stares through the window of the Balmaera and sees that stupid Alpha sitting in his regular spot. Keith wants to walk by like he has for the past week now, avoiding the tall, blue-eyed Alpha, but his stomach grumbles loudly. He doubts two dollars can get him anything, but he has to try. His baby will start to suffer if he loses anymore weight. He’s already convinced himself a few days ago that if Kuro had contacted this random Alpha he would’ve already been followed and brought back to that monster. So, he takes a calming breath and slowly pushes the door open. As soon as the bell chimes, the Alpha’s head snaps up and makes eye contact with Keith.

Keith quickly looks away and heads straight for the counter. “You know, you could sit, and we would come to you. I’m Hunk by the way.”

Looking at the Beta, Keith whispers, “Oh…sorry.” Then heads to a vacant spot, which unfortunately is a few tables across from the Alpha, not behind like usual. Keith makes sure to sit with his back toward the Alpha, hopefully showing his disinterest. Even though he’s extremely nice to look at, Keith doesn’t want to give him the wrong idea.

Hunk brings the Omega a menu and asks if he would like anything to drink. “Um…I probably won’t need the m-menu.” Keith sighs, embarrassed.

“No worries!” Hunk beams, then lowers his voice, “How much do you have today?”

Keith looks up at him through his bangs and pulls out his envelope, setting the two dirty and wrinkled dollar bills on the table.

Hunk frowns and thinks for a moment. “I could get you a small pastry, or—”

“Hunk put whatever he wants on my bill.” The Alpha from behind him comes around, pulls out a chair across from Keith, setting his food and drink down, before sitting himself. Keith starts to get up to bolt, but Lance grabs his wrist, sending fear down his spine. “Please, don’t leave. I didn’t mean to offend you before, but…you’re skin and bones. Let me help, it’s really no trouble.”

Keith yanks his arm free and hisses, “Why? What do you want from me?”

Lance chuckles, “Nothing. If you didn’t read any signs when you followed me back to my work last week, I’m an activist and lawyer for Omega abuse. All I genuinely want is to make sure you’ve eaten at least once a day.”

Cautiously Keith sits, looking down at himself to see just how baggy his clothes have gotten. “Fine, but I still don’t trust you.”

“I don’t expect you to trust a complete stranger, now Hunk, could you get this man whatever he wants.”

Hunk turns his attention to Keith, smiling brightly at him. Keith clears his throat, “It…uh…sound crazy, but I would literally die for a grilled cheese, extra cheesy…with, um…with shredded chicken in it…if you have anything like that.”

Hunk chuckles, “Good ol’ pregnancy cravings huh?”

Keith blushes and nods, “I-I guess.” He bites his lip and looks at the Alpha, “Can…can I get dessert too?”

“Of course.”

“Can I have a chocolate shake and fries?” Keith asks nervously.

“Can do!” Hunk says cheeringly.

When the beta walks away the Alpha smiles at Keith, “The names Lance.”

“Uh…K-Keith.” He rubs the back of his neck, “Th-thanks by the way.”

“I told you it’s no problem.”

“So, am I just charity case for you to add to your quota?”

Keith jumps when Lance lets out a loud belly laugh, “Why is it so hard to believe I’m just a nice guy?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘just a nice guy’.”

“So…you’re not a nice guy? Or did you mean to say Alpha?” Lance raises a brow.

Keith shrugs, and is saved from answering when Hunk puts down his shake. He quickly unwraps the straw and takes a huge gulp of it, humming with a small smile as the taste hits his tongue. When he swallows he notices Lance staring at him. “What?”

Lance smirks, “You’re adorable.”

“Pfft, yeah sure. I’m grimy and my hair is greasy, Plus I haven’t had clean clothes in almost two months.” When he finishes talking, the smile is off the Alpha’s face. “What?”

“How…pregnant are you?” He asks, his tone and scent clearly worried.

“Um…I’m not really sure. I had been sick a couple days, so I took a test. Once it showed positive I packed my shit and left. I’ve been traveling for…hmm…about three months?”

Lance’s eyes go wide. “You…you haven’t seen a doctor and you’re what? At least three months pregnant!”

Keith shakes his head, “How would you suggest I pay for said doctor?”

Lance gapes but shuts his mouth. Soon Hunk is back with Keith’s food, and Keith barely gives him time to set it down before his teeth are tearing into the chicken grilled cheese. “Keith…” Lance says, voice sad. “Will…will you let me either take you to a doctor…or…or bring my friend who is a doctor to you? Please?”

Swallowing a big bite, Keith frowns, “Why do you care so much?”

“I just…just because you’re struggling right now…doesn’t mean your baby has to. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. I just don’t want you to go through the pain of losing him or her.”

“No.”

“What?”

“You said you won’t force me to. The…the last Alpha I trusted forced me to basically give up my life.” Keith mumbled around another bite.

“But…”

“No. I’ll figure it out myself. Me and my baby have been just fine.”

Lance sighs, “Okay. Can you at least tell me you found a shelter?”

Keith dips a handful of four or five fries into his shake and shrugs. “In an alley.”

“Keith…”

Keith’s eyes snap up, and he growls, “I don’t _need_ your pity or your help.” He pushes himself away from the table, walking a few steps, turns around, grabs the other half of his sandwich, and then leaves.

Hunk plops himself down in the seat Keith was occupying, “What happened?”

“He won’t let me take him to see a doctor, or…or even have Adam and Shiro look at him, to make sure the baby is okay. Adam is the best damn doctor for Omegas in the city. I’m sure I could bring Keith to their place and he would help. Hunk, he’s sleeping in a fucking alley.”

Crossing his arms, Hunk calmly explains, “You’re coming on too strong. I know you care about omega’s, I know you just want to help him, but he doesn’t. He’s clearly scared. Today he let you buy him lunch. It’s a start.” He sighs and looks at his friend knowingly, “You seem to care a bit more than normal. You only ever see your clients at your office. As far as I know you’ve never been willing to take them to lunch or offer than Adam’s services. You’ve always gotten them a place in shelters. Why are you so intent on helping this one personally?”

Lance groans, “Am I really that obvious?” Hunk nods and Lance puts his head in his hands, “Hunk…there’s just something about him. I don’t know if it’s his scent, or what, but I feel drawn to him, but that’s crazy…I don’t even know him.”

Hunk chuckles, “It’s probably a combination of his scent and the fact you find him attractive. I for one think it’s his scent, that’s what normally draws potential mates together.”

“Ha, like he would ever give me a chance to be his friend, there’s no way I’ll ever get close to asking him to court. All I can do is my best to help him.”

“Maybe there’s something I can do too.”

Lance looks up at Hunk, hope shining in his eyes, “What?”

“I could offer him a job as a dishwasher, it’s only minimum wage, but it’s something. At least he could get himself basic things to take care of himself. If he turns out to be a good worker, he’d have the same chances as our other employees to move positions and get raises. Unfortunately, until he finds a place to stay, he won’t be able to work in the front. He has to be presentable, and he’s not…to be honest he stinks a bit too.” Hunk laughs, “Don’t give me that look, just because you’re obsessed with his pheromone scent, does not mean he physically doesn’t stink from not getting clean in who knows how long.”

“Hunk, you are seriously the greatest, now…hopefully he shows up tomorrow.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some heavy angst in this chapter.

Keith had been washing dishes at the Balmaera for three days now. It’s not the best job, but he’s looking forward to his first paycheck. He’s hoping to put it toward a hotel room, even for just one night. His back has been killing him. Keith can hear the bell ring as a new customer enters the diner. He changes out the water in the dishwasher and gets racks ready for more dishes to go through.

“Keith,” Hunk calls from the kitchen door he’s holding open. “Lance is here for Lunch, you can go ahead a take your break.”

Keith nods, drying his hands on the towel he keeps looped on his side through his belt loop. As he walks out of the kitchen, he sees Lance watching for him. The dark-skinned man shines his perfect smile and Keith groans. The _only_ reason he agreed to this, was for his baby. He had to stay healthy, so his pup or pups would too. He has made it clear everyday that these lunches are for his litter, not for the Alpha to boost his ego by taking care of an Omega.

“Good afternoon, Keith.” Lance greets kindly.

“You too.” Keith shrugs.

Once the pair order their food, Lance picks nervously at his nails. “So, I was hoping you had changed your mind about seeing my friends. Adam is an Omega, and he is the best doctor for Omega’s there is. His husband, and of course mate, is Shiro. He is Adam’s Alpha, but he isn’t like the Alpha’s you seem keen to avoid. He is kind, supportive, and treats Adam as he should be, as an equal. He is one of the top surgeons in the nation. People travel from all over the world to have him do their surgeries.”

Keith sips on his water, sets it down, and sits back with his arms crossed. “Would it get you to shut up and talk to me about _anything_ other than meeting your doctor friends?”

“It would yes.”

“Fine.”

Lance pumps his fist into the air and cheers. He pulls out his phone, scrolls through it, then holds it up to his year. “Come on in. He agreed.”

“Now?” Keith gapes. “Are you kidding me Lance?”

“Nope! Didn’t want you to back out.”

Keith is about to answer but his eyes are drawn toward the door when the bell rings. The door is being held open from the outside to let a thin, sun kissed skinned, man with glasses on through it. As the sandy haired man steps in, right behind him…Keith drops to the ground, “Shit, shit, shit!” He curses through his teeth as he starts to crawl toward the counter, to get behind it or even go out through the kitchen.

He gets a few inches away, until Lance pulls him up, “What are you doing?”

“Me? What are you doing? Let me go! I need to go!”

“I told you I’m not letting you back out.”

“I should have fuckin knew it! You work for him!”

Lance frowns, “What are you talking about?”

“Kuro!” Keith screams gesturing toward the large, muscular man who walked into the door. Keith isn’t sure when Kuro got the deep scar over his nose, but he’s sure whoever gave it to him is long gone.

Lance looks over his shoulder at his friends, “Who’s Kuro? That’s Adam and Shiro.”

As the man posing as this Shiro walks towards them, Keith starts to panic. “Let me go, _please_.” He begs Lance. When the stupid lawyer doesn’t, Keith drops to his knees when Kuro reaches them, “Please Kuro! I’m sorry! I-I’ll go back! I’m sorry! I-I won’t leave again…just _please_ don’t hurt my litter. _Please_.”

Shiro glances at Lance, who shrugs, and then Shiro kneels on the floor next to Keith, giving him space. “I’m going to assume your name is Keith. Lance has told me a lot about you.”

Keith balls up tighter, his arms gripping around his waist like an iron grip. “St-stop messing around. Just…bring me home and punish me already.”

Adam’s hand lands on Shiro’s shoulder, and he asks Keith, “What name was it that you called my mate?”

Keith shifted some more, then launched himself past Kuro, and out the door.

 

******

“KEITH!” Lance yells from the side walk, but the omega doesn’t even glance over his shoulder.

“What happened?” Shiro asked.

“I have no idea. He kept calling you Kuro though.”

Adam and Shiro shared a look. Then running a hand through his hair Shiro sighs, “I know Kuro. I also know why Keith thought I was him.”

“Why don’t we go back inside and sit down.” Adam suggests.

The two Alpha’s follow him, and they sit in a back corner. Adam takes a hold of Shiro’s hand and the Alpha explains. “Kuro…is my twin…my _identical_ twin. I’m only slightly taller and have my scarring and arm from the accident a few years ago. For that omega, who looks like he could handle his own and fight, to be so scared of him. I can only assume he hasn’t changed.” Shiro pinches the bridge of his nose and continues. “When Kuro was twenty, he brought home an Omega. They had just started dating…it had to of been Keith. He looks slightly familiar, only in the past he kept sort of a punk undercut. I only saw him the once. Over the years, Kuro would say Keith wasn’t feeling well, or had other arrangements. We would tease him that Keith left him a long time ago. Which would just set him off, that’s when his temper started getting worse, and he just didn’t seem like the brother I knew. He had taken a call while at our family home, I walked in on it on mistake. Before he noticed me, I heard his cursing at someone and whoever it was better hope he’s in a better mood when he gets home, otherwise he’d get the worst beating of his life.”

“Holy shit…” Lance gapes.

“I stopped talking to my brother since then. So, it was weird when a couple years ago his number showed up on my caller I.D. I ignored it. When I listened to the message that was left.” Shiro shudders. “There was a man on the other end, not Kuro. He…he was hurt…begging for help. Maybe he chose my number because it wasn’t in recent contacts…I’ll never know.” Shiro squeezed Adam’s hand. “Before the message cut out…I could hear Kuro yelling, he someone else begging. The last thing I heard on the message was the sound of a thud against the ground…the other man went eerily quiet.”

“Did you call the cops? Did you help?” Lance asked immediately.

Shiro shook his head. “I had no idea where Kuro was living then. I…I made a terrible mistake. And now…Keith ran off. We can’t even help him now.”

Lance taps his fingers on the table, “We’ll find him. He’s working for Hunk now. I don’t think he’ll stay away long…I hope.”

 

****

The days are starting to turn cooler, the nights, even colder. Keith sighs, dropping his bag next to a restaurants dumpster. With his body becoming weaker and weaker without food, he had to push a discarded crate next to the dumpster. He steps up, then pulls himself into the garbage. He digs around, trying to find anything edible. He manages to find some scraps, barely enough to make a difference, but he closes his eyes and forces himself to eat it.

Leaning back his lets his head clank against the metal wall of the dumpster. He doesn’t know how he’s going to survive, let alone a possible litter of one or more pups. He slowly holds his stomach and cries, “I’m so sorry…I-I thought I was doing the right thing. I-I thought I was protecting you.” In the back of his mind…he knows…he knows he’s far too small right now. He knows his belly should be showing, should be filling out, soon to be round and full of life. Keith knows though… “No!” He shouts to himself, “I won’t lose them. I won’t!”

Wiping his tears away he pulls himself out of the dumpster and picks up his back pack. He walked much farther into the city than normal, putting an awful lot of distance from where he is now, to where the safe alley he had found. It wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s long past dark. Keith learned the hard way that dumpster diving is frowned upon during the day…when they can catch you.

After walking for over an hour, Keith starts to get tired. He leans against the nearest wall. He closes his eyes for just a moment, he just needs to catch his breathe.

“Well…what do we have here boys?” A gruff, nasty voice taunts into the chilly night air.

Keith’s eyes snap open. He whips his head back and forth, spotting four men, four Alpha men walking his way. “Shit.” Without thinking Keith runs. He runs faster than the pain in his stomach wants to. He runs faster than the energy he has in him allows him.

He hears the galloping footsteps of the multiple men behind him. He can hear them closing the distance. He barely starts to recognize the part of the city he’s in, but he can’t hide in his alley, can’t show these thugs where they are.

His thoughts are disrupted by being grabbed by the backpack and yanked backward and onto the ground. His instincts make his cover his stomach. “Got any spare change bum?”

“I-I have nothing.” Keith says trying to hide his fear.

He tries to push them away when two of them manhandle his backpack off of him.

“I swear I have nothing of value. Please, just let me be.”

“Where’s the fun in that, Omega?” One of the men sneer.

Keith scrambles off his feet, just to run into the arms of the two who stole his backpack. Their ringleader grabs a hold of Keith’s jaw and gets so close, Keith can make out that he is missing an eye in the dark. The one-eyed man buries his nose in Keith’s sent gland. “Hmm, boys…this little omega is nothing but a whore. Unmated _and_ pregnant.”

The man standing a little away from them clears his throat, “Sendak…sir…we should leave him alone. If…if he identifies us, we’re fucked. Pregnant Omega’s are covered by the laws the most while pregnant.”

Sendak loosens his grip and Keith growls, “Yes, Sendak…you wouldn’t want that would you?”

The Alpha bares his teeth, snapping his jaw closed right in front of Keith’s face. Keith feels the first blunt ball of a fist connects with his jaw. He barely has time to register the pain that starts to blossom across his face before the next hit, and the next, and the next. He screams no as Sendak aims at his stomach over and over. When the Alpha thinks Keith had enough, he orders his lackies to drop the omega and leave him to die.

Keith curls up on his side, pulling his legs to his chest, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

 

*****

Lance has been looking for Keith for weeks, but no one has even mistaken someone for the Omega. He slowly gets out of his navy-blue sports car, walks through the underground garage, and gets into the elevator, going straight up to the floor with his office on it. When he steps out of the elevator, Romelle is right in his face. “Sir…there’s an Omega in your office. S-security found him this morning. H-he refused medical help, he just kept asking for you.”

Lance dropped his brief case and rushed into his office. Curled up on one of his more comfortable chairs, Keith looks so broken and lost. The omega’s breath is shallow, his eyes distant and empty. Slowly Lance kneels in front of Keith and takes the Omega’s cold hands in his. “Keith…you need to go to the hospital.”

“No…” he croaks, still not meeting Lance’s eyes.

“Why? You need to get your litter checked out.”

“I can’t.” Purple eyes meet blue. “I-I can’t hear that they’re gone. I can’t.”

Lance gently brushes Keith’s tears with the back of his fingers, “They might not be. If…if they’re anything as strong as you…. then they’re fighters. Just…please Keith. I will take you myself okay.”

Keith nods slowly, “Okay…”

Lance stands, “I’m going to pick you up okay?”

Keith nods and groans as Lance carefully lifts him into his arms. Keith lays his head on the Alpha’s shoulders. Lance yells to cancel his appointments as he rushes to the elevator. When he gets to his car, he places Keith in as gently as he can and buckles him in. He gets in himself and pauses a moment to look at Keith. The omega has his head against the window, tears rolling down his cheeks, arms loosely around his stomach. Keith may be almost thirty…but in this moment he looks like a lost boy. The years that have hardened him and shaped him have melted away, leaving a vulnerable and insecure boy.


	4. Author's note (sorry)

Hey everyone,

 

I just wanted to apologize for how long it has been since I updated my works. I fell into a pretty severe bout of depression. So bad that my therapist had been floating the idea of hospitalization around. I know it would probably help it's just not something I can make work out for me with my other responsibilities. Somewhere in the low for me, I lost my passion and desire to write, at the time it just seemed pointless to me. The past two sessions I had with my therapist, we have been talking about self care. I rarely ever have time for myself anymore and I know its taking it's toll. She started talking about the things I used to love to do, and the first thing that popped into my mind was writing. I've published on amazon before, but just randomly stopped in the middle of a series because I just lost myself and my passion. She told me one thing I need to do is start writing again, everyday, at least for 30 minutes. That was my plan for tonight! But of course now my word documents are coming up with an error. And yeah I know I can just do it right on here, but I prefer to have an original copy as well because than as I write a new chapter I can go back and look to make sure I'm not reiterating the same thing over and over. I am so very sorry! I do hope that everyone can be a little more patient with me while I try to dig myself out of the deepest of holes right now.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and once again I am sorry from the bottom of my heart!


	5. Chapter 4

When they arrive at the Hospital, Lance carefully gets Keith out of the car and carries him into the building. A nurse spots them and she rushes over. She starts rapid firing questions at Lance, questions he has no answers for. He didn’t know what happened, or how far along Keith was, or even his last name. When the nurse stops her questioning Lance begs, Get Dr. Shirogane.” The nurse pages Adam and leads Lance into the emergency room, telling him to lay Keith on any bed there. Lance sets the Omega down on the nearest bed, and the nurse pulls the curtain closed to get them some privacy. 

It only takes Adam five minutes to get from his office to the Emergency room. He rushes to the station where Lance’s scent is pouring out of. When he pulls back the curtain and sees Keith bruised and bloody, he rushes to the other Omega. Adam ignores Lance and starts to assess Keith’s injuries. Then he digs through the station's tools, finds a scissors and Cuts Keith’s Shirt off him. At this point the injured Omega is barely conscious and he didn’t want to hurt Keith by having him remove his shirt. 

Lance freezes and his blood runs cold when Adam tears through Keith’s shirt. The violet eyes boy had bruising all over his stomach and sides, and to make matters worse he has no sign of his growing pup or pups, His skin is stretched over his bones. “Adam....” Lance gasps, tears welling in his eyes. He’s never seen a pregnant omega so thin. “His litter.” 

“I already paged the OBGYN to order an ultra sound. We will bring him up there as soon as we can.” Adam tries to calm Lance as he tried to instructs the nurse to put in an IV to start getting some fluid into the Omega. 

Lance steps closer to the bed, and Keith just barely opens his eyes. The Alpha squats to be eye level with him. Cautiously Lance touches Keith’s cheek, gently caressing it. “It’s going to be okay.” 

Keith opens his mouth to speak, but closes it again. Instead, he moves his hand to his stomach in a silent question. 

A few tears run down Keith’s cheeks, and Lance quickly brushes them away. “I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know if you litter is okay. But, Adam has an ultra sound technician on stand-by. They just need to get some fluids in you first and we’ll go there and see your pup.” Keith chokes out a sob and Lance moves his hand to Keith’s hair, stroking through it to try and calm the omega. If he knows one thing in this awful world, it’s how to take care of an Omega. There were days and weeks that He had to comfort his sister, and years of trying to relax a nervous Omega in court and trust him. Keith closes his eyes and Lance reminds him, “Stay awake Keith, you’re going to see your pup soon.” 

“We’re ready to transport him.” Adam says taking the breaks off the wheels so they don’t have to move Keith. 

“O-ok” Lance tries to smile at Keith, “It will be okay. I’ll be in the waiting room alright.” 

As they started to move, Keith grabbed Lance’s wrist. “St-stay.” 

“Are you sure? Seeing your baby for the first time is so special. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” 

Keith whines as they move away from Lance. Adam can see the fear in Keith’s eyes and motions for Lance to come with. “You’re the only familiar face he has around here, I think he’s sure.” 

Lance doesn’t question it again, and holds Keith’s hand as they squeeze into the elevator, and start climbing to the 3rd floor. They rush Keith down the hall and into a dimly lit room, where the technician was ready to go. Lance could see the worry in her eyes when she looked at Keith, but she doesn’t voice it. Instead she applies a cool gel to his stomach, under his belly button. “Hi Keith, my name is Allura. I’m going to be seeing how your little one or ones are doing. Ready?” 

Keith looks at the beautiful woman with her long white hair, she looks kind enough, and even though he can smell her worry, he knows she’s just trying to help. So he nods, and keeps his hold of Lance’s hand as tight at he can to try and ground himself. 

Slowly Allura starts the ultra sound. She searches different spots on Keith’s stomach trying to locate a baby, then finally the whooshing sound of a heartbeat fills the room. Keith eyes are trained on the screen, and when Allura follows the heartbeat, it gets louder and louder until. “There’s your pup. There looks to be only one.” She smiles at Keith. “Your pup is doing just fine. We will run a blood test to make sure your hormone levels are correct for this stage of your pregnancy.” She looks at the screen again. “Would you like to know the gender?” 

Keith, who had started to cry again, was so relieved to see that his pup is okay. When Allura asks again if he wants to know the gender he nods frantically. 

“Alright, let's see here, it’s a girl!” Allura exclaims. 

Without thinking, Lance leaned over Keith and touched his stomach with his free hand, “You’re one tough lady huh? You’re doing so well.” 

Keith watched Lance with wide eyes, why was this Alpha being so...so kind? Because if he’s honest with himself, He knew Kuro wouldn’t be happy about a girl. He would always tell Keith that they would have a strong Alpha boy. There’s no way to tell if his pup will be an alpha or not, but Keith knows, if Kuro knew it was a girl, he would probably beat Keith until he lost her. So to see an Alpha so giddy about his pup being a girl, is weird to him. 

Lance could feel eyes on him, so turned his head and saw Keith staring at him, an odd expression on his face. “Oh...uh, sorry. I should’ve asked.” He quits leaning over Keith and rubs the back of his neck, “I have a lot of Nieces and Nephews. Kids are a soft spot for me. 

Keith didn’t say anything, because he didn’t know what to even say. Instead they roll his bed back down to the main level, and instead of leaving him in the main emergency room, they had found him a private room. Once his bed stops rolling, and they get a bunch of monitors set up, Adam states, “You will need to stay here until your worse injuries start to heal. You’ll take prenatal vitamins every day, and work yourself up to 3 meals a day. Until we feel you are healthy enough that your pup won’t be in danger, you will stay under our care.” With that said Adam was off to take care of his other duties. 

Lance hovered awkwardly by the door and cleared his throat, “So uh...I should get to work. I’m...I'm glad you and your little girl are okay.” 

“Okay...thanks for helping me.” Keith mumbled. 

“Of course, any decent human would have.” Lance said on his way out the door. Because if he didn’t leave now, he doesn’t think he would at all.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Thank you for all of your support! It means a lot to me. It really does.
> 
> Trigger warning, Keith is talking about his pasted abuse.

Keith has fallen asleep shortly after Lance had left, How could he not? He hadn’t slept on a ben for month’s now. Sometimes Kuro would make him sleep naked on the bathroom floor if Keith screwed up bad enough.  One time  Keith thought he had done something to make him happy because he filled up the tub for Keith, saying he just wanted to treat him. He helped Keith undress, and as Keith went to step into the water he flinched back because it was freezing. He begged not to have to go in it, but Kuro just shushed him, picked him up, and dropped him into the freezing cold water. He wasn’t allowed to come out until Morning. 

A knock on the door startles him awake. Once he remembered where he  was  he glanced at the door. Immediately the alarms on his heart rate monitor went crazier and crazier the more worked up he got. The man at the door put his hands up in surrender and moved closer to Keith. “I’m not Kuro...I swear!” Shiro said as he reached the side of Keith’s bed.

The Omega let out a shaky breath, and his heart rate slowly declined back to normal. “Uh, hi.” Keith squeaks.

Shiro sat in a chair near the window. “I want to apologize.”

Raising an eye brow, “For what?”

“Well, first of all for scaring you so badly the last time we crossed paths.” Shiro shifts, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. “And...and I’m sorry about my brother. If I had any clue at all that he was treating you the way he was...I would have helped you. We just barely met the one time, I didn’t even recognize you, but saying his name made it click. I knew...I knew he had a temper, but I never thought he would abuse anyone, especially an Omega. I’m--”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Keith inhales slowly, making a slight face, Shiro smells similarly to Kuro. “What he did was no  ones  fault except me. I could have left, a lot of times at the beginning I wanted to leave, but then he would remind me that I have no one to go to. And he was right.  So  I stayed. I did love him at some point, but slowly that love faded the worse he got.” Tears drip down his cheeks, “He...he messed with my birth control.... thats  why I’ve been running. He took me to his doctor, and had her give me my shot.” Keith lightly touches his stomach. “I wasn’t ready...I was waiting to see if he would change. She if I could have a pup with an Alpha who wouldn’t even think of harming it.” He chuckles and wipes his tears away. “I have no idea why I just told you all of that.”

Shiro smiles a little, “I think you just needed to finally say it. To let all of that off your shoulders. Now you don’t ever need to think of him again. ”

Keith snorts, “Except any time I see you.”

“That’s fair, but I do hope to get to know you a little better.”

Keith crosses his arms and glares at Shiro, “You’re just like him! He would bring different omegas home when he would go to the bar. You’re already mated, how can you do that to your bond?” 

“What are you talking about?” Shiro asks, confusion clear in his features.

“You said you wanted to get to know me? Why? Is one Omega not good enough for you?” Keith spits.

Shiro laughs at Keith, who just looks more and more angry. “I wasn’t trying to seem like I was hitting on you. I meant in general, as a friend.”

Keith’s cheeks got red and he mumbled, “Sorry.”

Before they can talk anymore about it,  The  nurse comes in with a tray for Keith’s lunch. He groans because the hospital food sucks most the time. He’s had plenty of visits to know that. She sets the tray onto the movable little table that goes over the bed across Keith lap. He adjusts the bed enough that he can sit up, but still be able to lean back a bit. Slowly Keith lifts to dome lid that covers the main dish. He was prepared for a bad smell upon uncovering it, but instead it smelt delicious. His eyes lit up when he saw the deluxe burger with fries. Keith glanced at the drink, normally the hospital does juice or water. He pics up the Styrofoam cup and lifts the lid on. He’s surprised to see it’s a strawberry  smoothie . “Did the hospital change their food?” 

The nurse smirks, “Nope.” Then turned and walked back out of the door.

Shrugging, Keith put the lid back on the smoothie and stuck the straw through it. As soon as he tastes  it  he knows  its  from the Balmera. “From the looks of your reaction you know where the food is from.” Shiro chimes in.

“Yeah! It’s Hunk’s food. I love his cooking, but I can’t eat much of it and it makes me feel like I’m wasting it.” Keith uses a fry to fidget with other fries.

“Just eat as much as you can.  Don’t  rush or force yourself to eat, because people as  malnourished  as you are, typically throw up if they do. 

Around a mouth full of burger Keith tells him, “I  wont .”

****

Shiro had left Keith as he ate. Once Keith finished his meal, he pushed the table away, readjusted his bed, and Laid on his side. Gently he holds his stomach. He still can’t believe his pup has come out uninjured from all of this stress, living on the streets, starving, and getting beat on by a bunch of Alphas. Soon the fullness of his stomach lulled him into sleep. 

When he awoke, it was just past dinner time, he cursed himself because he didn’t call his meal in. He rubs his eyes and jumps a little when he hears the door burst open. He looked over and it was Lance, carrying too plastic bags in his arms. He smiles at Keith, “Oh good! You’re awake now, when I first stopped by you were asleep so I thought I’d do a little shopping for you.” The Alpha puts the bags between Keith’s legs and pulls up a chair next to the bed, “Go ahead and take a look. It’s all for you.”

Keith starts with the smaller bag. Inside there was an array of candy, cookies, and some fruit; bananas, apples, and grapes. Then he opens the other one. He pulled out two pairs of pants, some shirts, underwear, socks, and at the bottom  buried  under the clothes was a picture from his Ultra Sound. He pulls the frame out to get a better look. He hadn’t asked for pictures, there was too many things to think other than that at the moment. He smiles and lightly touches the glass. He looks at Lance with glossy eyes. “Thank you.”

Lance grins, “It was no problem."


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here I am, apologizing again. The past couple months have been the most difficult time for me in years. I will spare you all the details, but I do really appreciate all of you that have stuck by and been so incredibly kind about my long absences. 
> 
> Possible triggers for this chapter are"  
> -Mentions of abuse  
> -Physical fighting  
> -Abuse  
> -Attempted murder
> 
> If I missed any I apologize and please let me know so I can add it.

A soft touch to the left side of Keith’s face made him stir from his sleep. He hummed, leaving his eyes closed and taking in the touch. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone was so gentle with him. The hand traveled to his jaw line, he started to flutter his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. He rubbed at his eyes, and when he opened them, the room was only illuminated by the dim light from his monitors. Immediately, his eyes widened, but before he could scream, a heavy hand covered his mouth. Keith went rigid but tried to reach for the nurse call button on the small bedside table beside the bed. Kuro chuckled, picked it up from the table and ripped it from the outlet it was attached to and throwing it across the room. Keith started to panic and pulled at the hand over his mouth. 

“Shh... I will move my hand if you promise not to scream.” 

Keith nodded his head and said a mumbled, “Ok.” 

Kuro slowly removed his right hand from Keith's mouth, leaving the other on Keith's jaw. Kuro smiled, but it’s a smile Keith was all too familiar with. It’s the one he gets when he had something planned for Keith. It’s the one he wore when he forced Keith into a freezing bath. It’s the one he wore when he brought other omegas home and made Keith watch them. The Omega’s breaths were short and shallow, his chest felt tight and his entire body felt like it was shaking in fear of the alpha. 

“You didn’t need to run away to get my attention.” Keith frowned, confused about how the hell Kuro even found him. He chuckled, like he could read Keith's mind. "Emergency contact.”, he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, left hand still resting on Keith’s jaw line. “It’s a girl,” He mumbled grabbing the picture frame holding Keith’s ultrasound. He flung it across the room, the glass shattering as the picture hit the wall. “A girl, Keith, really?" he said, frowning. ''How could you allow this to happen? You should have done the right thing and aborted it. You knew it would make me angry, knew I would despise that thing growing in you.” He said with a growl. His hand slowly moved lower, and wrapped around the Omega’s throat with a strong grasp. 

Keith instantly grabbed at his abuser’s arm, clawing at it and trying to pry it from his neck. In one swift motion, Kuro straddled the omega, both hands pressing against Keith’s throat, nearly crushing his windpipes. Keith thrashed beneath him as his lungs started constricting from the lack of oxygen. His heart monitors blared loudly but he knew that the nurses were tired of running to his aid when he was just having a nightmare. Then it dawned on him, he was going to die here. No one would come...No, he couldn’t afford to give up, not on himself and especially not on his unborn pup. He started to fling his arms around, trying to knock over anything and everything that he comes across in hopes it would make enough of a fuss so that the nurses would come. He started scratching at his chest and stomach, pulling off the cables connected to the heart monitors, the machine made a sound like he flat lined. A sound he knew they couldn’t ignore. 

Keith gaped like a fish, trying to get even just a little air past Kuro’s hold and into his lungs. His fighting started to grow weak, barely having the energy to lift his arms anymore. His body went limp, and tears welled up in his eyes and rolled back over his temples. He blacked out just as the weight above him disappeared. 

 

********** 

Lance groaned as his phone rung for the third time in 5 minutes. He squinted his eyes at the bright phone screen and the caller ID said that Adam was calling. What reason could Adam possibly have to call him so late? He answered it and tiredly asked, “What do you want? And at midnight, no less?” 

Lance could hear the worry in Adam's voice. “Keith is in critical condition, in the ICU... Kuro found him.” 

Lance's heart dropped to his stomach and he hastily sputtered ''I'll be there in 15.'' 

 

********** 

Lance rushed into the hospital, ran to the stairs, and skipped steps all the way up to the ICU on the fourth floor. He sprinted down the halls and when he arrived, rapidly pressed the call button for door he needed to get through to get to Keith. When the doors hadn’t opened Lance started banging on it until he had seen Adam rush out of the nurse's station and finally opened the door. 

As soon as Lance was about to run to Keith's room, Adam stepped in front of him. He gripped onto his friend’s shoulders, who continued to try and get past the doctor. “Lance, I need you to.... Lance! Listen to me! Look, I know you’ve seen photos of some really terrible things in your line of work but...this is going to be hard. He’s hooked to a lot of machines and tubes. We had to put him into a medically induced coma in order to let his body rest enough and help heal him. By the time they had gotten him transported to the ICU, he was unresponsive. We won't have any idea how he will be when he wakes up. We were lucky his windpipe wasn’t crushed. We believe that Kuro planned to lighten his hold on Keith, to make it as agonizing as he could for him.” 

With a heavy heart, Lance nodded, so Adam lead him to Keith’s room. The first thing he noticed was the lack of Keith’s scent in the room. It had been getting clearer and clearer the more comfortable Keith had gotten around Lance. The fear, distress, anger and confusion that stained his scent was fading. Adam noticed the Alpha twitching his nose and placed a calming hand on Lance's left shoulder. “He has bandages around his neck as well as a neck brace. They're covering his scent glands.” 

Lance looked up at him, nodded, then turned back to Keith. Very relieved that they were just covered and that the lack of his scent wasn’t from death. His hands shook as he pulled up a seat next to Keith’s bedside. He noticed blood around his fingernails, “He put up a fight” 

Adam knew it was a simple statement, but decided Lance needed the comfort. “He did. He did everything he could to protect himself and his pup. The room is trashed because we are assuming he tried to make as much noise as possible. A nurse had finally checked in on him when the EKG, that's what measures your heart rate, said he flat lined, but all he had done was rip off the patches that connected him to the monitor. If he hadn’t done that no one would have checked on him until it was too late. All the nurses on duty in that wing are getting suspended without pay while the hospital board investigates into why they hadn’t gone to his room when his heart monitor was off the scales.” 

“Have the police been here yet?” Lance asked, not looking away from Keith’s hand. 

“Of course. I also told them you would be leading Keith’s case against Kuro” 

Lance nodded his head once, turned to face Adam and declared, “Damn right I am.”


End file.
